The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act

We are being constantly bombarded by newscasts telling us about the millions of dollars being spent on the upcoming presidential campaigns. There is another campaign being fought, into which millions of dollars are being poured, but the media won’t go there. Proposition 39, known as the Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, will be voted on by the residents of California in November.

The act would require that genetically modified foods sold in the State of California must be labeled.

It is interesting to see the line up of those opposing “The Right to Know”. The FDA is sticking to its original statement that “Genetically modified foods are essentially equivalent to conventional foods”, although their own scientists disagreed and many scientists, who are not on Monsanto’s payroll are now convinced that there are proven risks and health hazards from the consumption of genetically modified foods. The names of the companies who are major contributors to the opposition include, Dupont Pioneer, Bayer Crop Science and Basf Plant Science (produces pesticides) at the top of the list. The beverage and processed food manufacturers are well represented among those opposing the bill. Pepsi, Coca-cola, Nestle, General Mills and Conagra each chipped in $500,000 each. The list also includes, Campbell Soup, Hershey, Godiva, Land O’Lakes, Ocean Spray Cranberries and numerous others. Some of these companies may not want you to know that they have GMOs in their ingredients.[1]

An interesting development is taking place across the seas in India. The U.S. State Department has been promoting and drumming up business for Monsanto and the biotech industry in many of the undeveloped countries of the world. Monsanto sold India a bag of empty promises with their GE cotton. which turned out to be a colossal failure. Many Indian farmers who had mortgaged their farms to buy Monsanto’s pricy patented seeds, when faced with major crop failures, committed suicide. Now ten years after India had officially allowed GM crops to be cultivated, a parliamentary panel said it had no confidence in farm biotechnology. “The committee came to the conclusion that considering the potential and actual impacts of GM crops to our food, farming, health and environment; that GM crops are just not the right solution for our country”.

The report also recommended the discontinuation of open field trials due to the danger of contamination.[2]

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates of Microsoft, are you listening?